Countdown to the FTC Practice Day

Until the FRC build season begins in January, we are limiting most of our meetings to the students working on the FTC robot. This switch seems to be working very well since there is work for everyone now.

Since the last post, the have been multiple advances in the design of the robot. The students have added plastic teeth at the front of the robot to sweep the small balls up to the shooter box. Here are Bre and Kelly working on the framework of the robot. The robot is turned on its front side in the picture.

The shooter box consist of a plastic receptacle to hold the ball and a spring loaded lever that will send the ball flying. The lever will regain tension with the help of a motor, and then will be released with a button.

Another feature of the robot is the extendable arm. This arm will be attached to a pitchfork shaped extension that will be used to lift the large ball. Here are Jake and Stephon working in the arm.

Finally, the programming subteam has put together the driving code, the spinner motor code (to move the plastic teeth), and they’re experimenting with the speeds of the shooter motor. Once the shooter is mounted, they will be able to test what is the most efficient count to enter in the code that will lower the lever and shoot it automatically.

Other students assisted in making custom cut pieces to hold the shooter and the arm.

To learn more about the upcoming practice day, please visit this page.